


Casualties of War

by ThatRavenclawBitch



Series: Ceasefire [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Face Slapping, Face-Sitting, Gold is a prize idiot, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-10-10 04:10:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20521730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRavenclawBitch/pseuds/ThatRavenclawBitch
Summary: Despite spending the night together on a fairly regular basis, Belle and Gold are definitely not dating. Things come to a head when he has a date with someone else.





	1. Chapter 1

Belle lay back against the pillows, her blood singing in her veins as Gold rolled to the side with a satisfied sigh.

It was a Saturday evening in early November and what was steadily becoming Belle’s very favorite time of the week.

Not that she and Gold met every Saturday. Sometimes they had other plans, plans that had nothing to do with each other. And, on occasion, she caught him in his shop on a random Tuesday. And her office in the library had certainly seen some action as well. But more Saturdays than not, Mr. Gold and Belle French could be found right here, in the apartment above the library, in Belle’s bed.

She wasn’t dating Mr. Gold, of course. They’d never actually been on anything that could be construed as a date. He simply came over on Saturday evening, they fucked each other silly, and that was that. There were no movie dates, no picnics at the park, no burgers at Granny’s. Belle preferred it that way. It was less messy if they kept things simple, just sex. They were adults with needs and that’s all this was. So what that he’d kept his promise to stop harassing her library? So what that, on occasion, after they were both tired out, he’d wrap his arms around her and she’d doze off in his tender embrace only to find him still wrapped around her come morning?

It was sex, and that was all. It had to be.

Because Gold wasn’t the type of man she’d ever actually date. He was still horrid half the time. He’d never apologized for his treatment of her for the first three years of their acquaintance. And no matter how talented his tongue and fingers and cock were at getting her off, she didn’t forgive so easily, especially a man who’d shown no interest in her beyond an occasional fuck.

Of course, he _had_ asked her to dinner a few weeks back. He’d made a sly remark about her needing more energy and perhaps carb loading at Mario’s before their next meeting. She’d scoffed, rolled her eyes like he’d told an off color joke, and gone back to her morning coffee. He’d left shortly after, the sound of her front door slamming shut behind him as he skulked off in the early morning light to his shop, keeping to the shadows lest anyone find out where he’d spent the night. It was only once he’d gone that she realized perhaps the suggestion had been serious. He hadn’t asked again in any case.

No, she and Mr. Gold were not quite enemies with benefits. It suited them both that way, she was sure of it.

Belle stretched her arms up above her head, enjoying the lazy, relaxed feeling she always had after a good orgasm. She looked over at Gold who was watching her smugly, and she pushed up on her elbows, glaring at him playfully.

“What are you so pleased about?” she asked.

Gold smirked, a quirk of his lips that nevertheless showcased his devastating dimples. Belle shook her head. He was becoming entirely too attractive to her.

“I’ve never heard you scream at quite that pitch before,” he said, reaching out to curl one tendril of her hair around his finger and tug at it lightly. “You really are quite a naughty girl.”

Belle smacked his hand away, falling back against the mattress.

“Oh shut up,” she groused.

“Come over here and make me,” was his reply.

Belle looked over at him again, wanting nothing more than to wipe the self-congratulatory smirk off his face.

“I know your refractory period isn’t that good,” she said with a shrug. “Wouldn’t want you breaking something, old man.”

There was an evil glint in Gold’s eye, the only warning before he’d seized her about the waist, pulling her over on top of him. Belle reached down, steadying herself with hands braced against his chest.

“Scoot up,” he said gruffly, grabbing her by the hips. Belle let him pull her up until her knees were braced on either side of his head, his face looking up at her from between her splayed thighs, her bare sex just scant inches from his mouth.

Gold’s breath was hot against her core, her thighs still sticky with her earlier pleasure. He brushed his nose against the inside of her thigh and Belle let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in anticipation.

“Make me,” he said again.

Her thighs trembled with the effort of not grinding herself against his face and he smirked up at her, his eyes dark as pitch.

Gold reached up, grabbing her firmly by the backside and bringing her down on his face, his tongue plunging up inside of her. Belle squealed, grabbing on to the headboard for balance as he licked at her. His mouth covered her cunt, his tongue lapping at her and his hands keeping her firmly pressed against him.

“Fuck!” she cried as her hips jerked against him. One of his hands left her backside, coming up to press two fingers up inside her. She clenched around the digits, craving more, craving him.

Belle dropped one hand to grip his hair, her nails scratching against his scalp. He let out a contented hum that she felt through her whole body. Her other hand scrabbled against the fabric of her headboard, digging in until she could feel the wood creak beneath her grip. His lips closed around her clit, sucking along with the pressure of his fingers insider her and Belle couldn’t stop herself, she ground against him, riding his face. 

The feel of Gold’s hot mouth on her pussy, his fingers pressing deep, the fact that he’d been inside her less than five minutes ago and she was already wanting him again, was too much. Her whole body was shaking, goose bumps erupting across her arms and chest. Her hand twisted in his hair so hard it must have been painful as she came with a shout. Gold just held her against him, his tongue and fingers continuing to plunge into her until she pulled herself off him, begging him to stop.

Belle slumped to the side, her head leaning against the headboard as her body continued to twitch with aftershocks.

“Dear God,” she managed.

“Not quite, but I like the comparison,” Gold said, looking entirely too relaxed. His chin was soaked with her and she stared at him, certain she’d never seen anything more erotic in her whole damn life. She couldn’t even fault him the smugness this time.

“See,” he said, with a grin. “My mouth is good for something.”

Belle huffed out a laugh as Gold rolled over to kiss her deeply, his tongue stroking against hers and filling her with her own taste.

Then he pulled away, suddenly.

“What time is it?” he asked. Belle was still panting slightly, the kiss not helping in getting her breathing under control.

“I don’t know,” she slurred out, glancing across at the clock on her side table. “Just after 6:30.”

He nodded.

“Right,” he said, wiping his chin clean with his hand and then wiping his hand on the bedclothes.

Gold pushed up off the mattress, the springs creaking as he swung his legs over the side and stood up, snatching his boxers up from the floor. Belle sat up as well, holding her paisley printed sheets to her chest.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her brows drawing together in confusion.

Gold glanced over his shoulder at her as he pulled his trousers on over his slim hips, turning to face her as he zipped them up.

“Getting dressed,” he said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if he hadn’t spent the past several Saturday evenings in her bed, making her come over and over again.

No, they weren’t dating. But Belle realized they might as well have been, pasta dinners at Mario’s or no.

“You’re not staying?” she asked, hating how small her voice sounded. It was one thing to be open with Gold physically, quite another to open up her emotions. There was still something so closed off about him despite all the sex. But there were moments he showed more of himself, the vulnerability that she’d seen that first morning together. The thing that had made her stay rather than run off determined never to be alone with him again.

The corner of Gold’s mouth twitched up in the beginning of a grin, a smug little expression that had her glaring at him in no time.

“I’m afraid not, sweetheart,” he said, reaching down to tap his forefinger against her nose in a way that was either fond or condescending, she couldn’t quite be sure. “I have a date.”

The sheet dropped from around her, pooling at her waist as she stared up at him dumbfounded.

“What?” she exclaimed.

Gold gave her a wink.

“Surprised you’re not the only one to see my many charms?”

There was a sudden leaden feeling in her stomach, like she’d swallowed a stone.

“With who?” she demanded.

Gold went back to dressing, picking his shirt up off her desk chair and shrugging it on.

“Regina’s mother,” he said simply, as if that wasn’t the most ludicrous statement ever uttered.

“Regina’s _mother_,” she repeated. Regina was in her late 30s. She wasn’t exactly sure how old Gold was, but no more than 50. Regina’s mother would have to be much older than him. “How old is she?”

Gold arched an eyebrow at her as he tied his tie back in place.

“Sixty,” he said simply. “But in very good condition for her age. Why do you ask?”

“That’s too old for you,” she said, scrambling out of the bed and grabbing her robe from where it was hung on the bedpost. She wrapped it around herself quickly, cinching it at her waist almost violently.

Gold huffed a little laugh. “On the contrary. She’s closer to my age than you are.”

Belle’s mouth clamped shut. She couldn’t argue with that. Gold was at least 20 years her senior. 

“Well, why are you going on a blind date with a 60 year old woman?” she asked, changing tactics. No need to draw any more attention to age gaps.

Gold looked up at her as he fastened his tiepin.

“It’s not a blind date,” he said. “Cora’s an old friend.”

A sick and twisty feeling started in Belle’s stomach, a cross between anxiety and anger. She didn’t like it one bit. She crossed her arms against her chest, watching as Gold sat down on the end of the bed to slip his shoes back on. There was a little scuff on the toe of his right one and he rubbed at it with his thumb, a worry line creasing his forehead.

“So you’re having dinner with an old friend,” Belle accused, throwing air quotes up around the word friend.

Gold stopped messing with his shoe, looking up at Belle with a wry expression.

“Cora is considering a bid for governor,” he said, inclining his head at her. “In my experience, it pays to know people in positions of power.”

“So what, you’re pimping yourself out to her?”

He snorted. “I don’t plan to sleep with her if that’s what you’re asking.”

“But you would if the price was right,” she accused.

Gold’s eyes narrowed, his smile becoming sharper. He pushed up off the bed, taking his cane from where it was balanced against the footboard and stepping toward her.

“I’m a businessman dearie,” he said, his voice a hiss. “And let’s not pretend what we have is anything more than a business transaction to you. Or are you forgetting that the first time we ever slept together you elicited a promise out of me to leave your library alone. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”

Belle’s eyes widened at the accusation.

“You think I’m sleeping with you for what, perks?”

Gold picked his suit jacket up from the end of the bed, draping it over his arm.

“I can’t imagine what other reason you would have.”

Belle shook her head. Was he really trying to turn this around on her?

“Well, the blinding orgasms don’t hurt,” she retorted.

Gold smiled at her, a thin thing that didn’t remotely reach his eyes.

“Insatiable, aren’t you?” he said, his voice still a hiss as he stalked closer. “Sadly, you’ll have to do without tonight, my dear, but I’ll try to clear some room in my schedule for next week.”

He turned to leave the bedroom and Belle blocked his path, her hands fisting at her sides in anger.

“So you’re really gonna fuck me and then take someone else out to dinner?” she exclaimed. “If I’d just given you a blow job and then left to have dinner with someone else, how would you feel?”

Gold arched a brow at her. “Well, that I’d gotten the better end of the deal, obviously,” he said, reaching out to cup her chin in his palm. “You’re very talented.”

She smacked his hand away for the second time that evening, wrenching her face away from his grip.

“And besides, who I date is no concern of yours, is it?” he continued. “Because this isn’t a relationship. You've said so yourself.” 

Belle felt bile rising up the back of her throat. This was the very reason she’d kept feelings at bay. This was the reason she refused to see their relationship as anything more than sex. He could turn on a dime, go from a gentle and attentive lover to a cruel and callous bastard in the blink of an eye.

“You’re a bastard,” she snarled out.

“Yes,” he said simply, stepping away from her, out of her personal space and leaving her feeling chilled. “In every sense of the word.”

Belle blinked, watching as he shrugged his jacket on, his cane balanced against the doorframe.

“Now if you don’t mind, I have to get home and shower the scent of you off myself. It’s unseemly to take a woman to dinner with another woman’s cum on your fingers.”

He waggled the fingers in question in her face, stepping around her out of the bedroom. Belle followed him, itching for a fight.

“You know what,” she said, dogging his steps through her small living space. “I think this little thing between us has gone long enough, don’t you?”

Gold turned to face her again, his face irritatingly calm in the storm of her emotions.

“Then what would you suggest?” he asked, his gold tooth flashing in the low light of her living room. There were two half drunk wine glasses on her low wooden coffee table, the pretense of an after work drink a prelude to the activities in her bedroom. It had been just over an hour since he’d arrived and now it was all ending, falling to pieces in an ugly pile she couldn't hope to recover. 

“Get out of my apartment,” she said, watching his brows rise imperceptibly. “And never, ever come back.”

Gold let out a little sigh, a huff of air blown from his nose in irritation. His dark eyes considered her for a long moment and then he gave a short nod.

“If that’s what you’d prefer,” he said, that same calmness making her want to slap him upside his beautiful head. “But don’t come crying to me when your sweet little cunt is aching for my cock again, hmm?”

The slap took them both by surprise. One moment Belle was seething, the next, her hand was stinging with the shock of it, a red mark blooming across Gold’s left cheek, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Get out,” she said again, rubbing her palm against her bare thigh.

Gold’s eyes narrowed, rage simmering there, but he said nothing, just opened the door to her apartment and left, the slam of the door echoing throughout the living room.

Belle let out a ragged gasp once she was alone, adrenaline coursing through her and making her want to smash something.

She resisted the urge, crossing into the living room and sitting down on her cream colored sofa restlessly.

The lamp on her side table reflected through the wine there, leaving burgundy colored shadows on the pale wooden surface. It was dark outside, the days getting shorter as November creeped on. Her apartment was cold, the rickety old windows doing little to keep the chilly autumn air at bay, and sitting here alone in nothing but a silk bathrobe was about the most miserable way Belle could think to spend a Saturday evening.

She snatched up her glass from the coffee table, downing the rest of the wine quickly before swiping the back of her hand against her mouth. She glanced down at the remaining glass before grabbing it as well. Gold had only had a sip or two before he was pinning her back against the sofa, kissing her within an inch of her life. The bastard.

She stood up quickly, carrying the glass of wine with her down the hall to the bathroom. She needed to wash the scent of him off herself as well. If Gold was going out tonight, so was she.


	2. Chapter 2

Storybrooke didn’t offer much in the way of nightlife.

Belle knew this, of course. Three years in town had made her keenly aware of Storybrooke’s shortcomings. It took forever to get a package delivered here, there were limited dining options, and the nightlife was lacking.

8:00 on a Saturday was no exception.

The Rabbit Hole was the only place in town, other than Granny’s, for a decent cocktail and it was too early to be hitting the bar. That’s how Belle found herself at the counter at Granny’s Diner, staring down at a plastic covered menu blindly while Ruby stared her down.

“Burger,” she said finally, as though she’d been bothering to read the menu. “Extra pickles. And your biggest chocolate shake.”

Ruby swiped the menu out of Belle’s hands, shoving it under the counter before turning to the ice cream machine to fill her order. A few minutes later Belle was staring down a cheeseburger rather than the menu and wishing she’d just ordered a whisky instead. She wasn’t really in the mood to eat.

She picked at it unenthusiastically, finally pushing it away in favor of the shake. Belle had always thought there was very little in life that ice cream couldn’t fix. Maybe she should pour a milkshake over Gold’s stupid head. That would probably make her feel loads better.

Belle braced her elbows on the counter, leaning over the shake and slurping through her straw. She downed half of it in one concerted effort, and Ruby shook her head.

“What is going on with you?” she asked, her eyes darting around to see if anyone was in earshot. “You’ve been freaking out for weeks. Ever since…”

Ruby trailed off, glancing around again before leaning in closer to Belle across the counter.

“Ever since you spent the night with Gold.”

Belle rolled her eyes. “I didn’t come here to talk about Gold.”

Ruby crossed her arms, leaning back from the counter. “Well that would be a first.”

Belle let out an offended huff. “Shut up. I never talk about him.”

“Ha!” Ruby exclaimed, grabbing a dishtowel to wipe at a stubborn coffee stain on the Formica countertop. “He’s all you’ve ever talked about. For three years. ‘Gold is the most infuriating man I’ve ever met’,” Ruby mocked, adopting a truly horrible approximation of Belle’s Australian accent. “‘He’s the devil incarnate! I hate him because I’m attracted to him and everyone knows it!’”

“Shut up!” Belle exclaimed louder, attracting a few glances. She dropped her voice to a mumble. “I’m not attracted to him. I hate him. He’s horrible and stupid and he’s got a terrible face, frankly. And his butt is just bad.”

Ruby snorted.

“Yeah, that’s why you went home with him after the fundraiser.”

“I was drunk,” she grumbled. Never mind that she’d been stone cold sober for the past several weeks of indiscretions.

“So what’s the problem,” Ruby prodded again, stuffing the dishtowel into the waistband of her apron and leaning against the counter. “He never called after rocking your world?”

“No,” Belle said with a shake of her head. “Quite the opposite. I’ve been sleeping with him.”

She raised her chocolate shake in a sad salute, toasting her complete and total lack of judgment.

“What?” Ruby exclaimed, attracting a few curious glances. “More than just that first time?”

Belle just nodded, taking another sip from her shake.

“Couple times a week for the past…” she trailed off, doing some mental math, “7 weeks.”

Ruby stared at her, her mouth hanging slightly open.

“Wow,” she said finally, giving a curt nod. “Okay. I thought this was more of a get it out of our systems thing, but you’re like actually dating him.”

Belle huffed a laugh. “Oh, no. Not dating. Of course not. He wouldn’t date me. He’s got more powerful women to woo, don’t you know.”

“No,” Ruby snorted. “I don’t. It’s not like he’s got a long and varied dating history.”

Belle looked up at her friend, her brows drawing together. He had to have been dating someone to be that good in the sack.

“You sure about that?”

Ruby leaned her elbows against the counter, balancing her chin in her hands.

“I mean I’ve known the guy my whole life and since his divorce I’ve never seen him with anyone.”

“Divorce?” Belle asked, inclining her head forward. Of course he was divorced. He was a wealthy man of a certain age so he’d have to have been married at some point. And no one would ever be able to put up with him for long.

Ruby shook her head a little judgmentally. “You didn’t know about his ex-wife? What do you guys talk about?”

“Nothing personal, obviously,” Belle said. “How long ago was this?”

“Oh God,” Ruby said, looking away as if wracking her memory. “It’d have to be like a decade ago now. Mrs. Gold was a fixture in town. She was an artist and she had a studio just down the street. She sold a lot of her paintings during tourist season. Then one day she just up and left. Took their kid with her.”

Belle choked on her milkshake, a spray of chocolate spurting through her lips and across the counter in front of her. Ruby gave her a choice eyebrow, liberating her dishtowel from her apron to mop up the spill.

“He has a kid?” 

She’d been in his home, in his bedroom, his office. She’d never seen any trace of a child. Of course, they probably weren’t a child anymore.

“Yeah,” Ruby said with a nod. “Neal. He was several years behind me in school so I didn’t know him well. He left with his mom and never really came back after a couple of summers.”

Belle twisted her glass between her palms, considering Ruby’s story. A bad divorce, a child in the mix, it certainly explained a thing or two about Gold. She wondered if he’d always been such an asshole or if the disintegration of his family had anything to do with it. She’d probably never know because trying to get to know Mr. Gold was about as fruitful as trying to chew glass, and probably more hazardous to your health. Every time she thought they were getting closer, that maybe he was worth the risk, he went and did something unforgivable. Like taking another woman out to dinner and leaving her cold in her bed.

No. No amount of sad backstory could forgive Gold’s behavior. He’d been nothing but cruel to her for three years. A few weeks of sex didn’t make up for that. And nothing could make up for how he’d hurt her tonight. She was done with him. And the best way to prove it at the moment seemed like getting rip roaring drunk and not fucking Gold at the end of it.

She gulped down the last of her shake, shoving the empty glass to sit next to her uneaten burger.

“You know what, Ruby?” she said. “I think I’m ready for shots.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up.

“Heck yeah! A little pregame. I get off at ten and then we can head to the Rabbit Hole.”

“Excuse me?” Belle asked.

“Well, I’m not just going to sit here and watch you mope over that slimy little bastard!” Ruby whispered harshly. “We’re gonna go out and have fun and find a cute boy for you to make out with.”

Belle groaned. “I hate boys.”

Ruby waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Even better.”

She disappeared to the back and surfaced a moment later with a bottle of chilled tequila, a saltshaker, and a dish of cut limes. Then she thunked a shot glass down in front of Belle.

“You get started without me,” she said with a wink.

Belle pulled the shot glass toward herself miserably, filling it with tequila. She poured a bit of the salt on her hand, licking it before throwing the shot back with a grimace and grabbing one of the lime wedges to suck. It was hardly her drink of choice, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

She poured herself another shot, repeating the motions. The liquor burned down her throat, chased by the sourness of the limes and after a few minutes she started to feel pleasantly fuzzy, the world going hazy at the edges and a lightness filling her head.

“Hey sister, you drinking alone?” a gruff voice asked from beside her. Belle swung around on her stool to see Leroy Miner taking the seat next to hers.

“Not anymore I’m not,” she said with a grin. She reached over the counter to pluck another shot glass out, plopping it down in front of Leroy before pouring him a drink. She shoved the salt shaker and limes at him. Leroy stared down at the glass before looking back up at Belle with a shrug.

“Alright then,” he said, taking the shot.

“You know what,” Belle said, standing up and looking across the diner at large. “A round for the whole diner, Ruby! Let’s celebrate!”

It was a celebration after all. A toast to dodging bullets. She could have gone and done something really stupid like fallen in love with Gold and then she’d have really been screwed. It was much better to end things now, before her heart was involved. She’d invest in a good vibrator. That’s all the man was good for after all.

Ruby looked at her amusedly.

“You sure about that, buddy?”

The diner was fairly packed. From the Nolans with their tweenage daughter Emma to Archie Hopper the town shrink. A few of Leroy’s friends from the cannery were seated on the other side of him at the counter. August Booth whom Belle had had one disastrous date with upon first arriving in town was at a table with his father Marco. Ashley Boyd and her fiancé Sean Herman sat with their new baby parked in a pram next to their booth. Doctor Whale looked to be on a fairly unsuccessful date with Abigail. If the nuns nestled in the corner booth imbibed as well, Belle would be racking up quite the tab.

She didn’t care.

“Yep,” she said, letting the alcohol bolster her. Tonight, she didn’t give a shit.

* * *

Belle didn’t think of herself as much of a party girl. She mostly kept to herself, happy to be left alone with her books and a few close friends. She was a librarian for Christ’s sake. But after buying the whole diner a drink, she found herself at the center of the action.

Leroy had one arm slung around Belle’s shoulders, pounding his fist on the counter as her roared with laughter. His face was bright red behind his scrubby brown beard and Tom Clark, the pharmacist, thumped him on the back thinking he was having a fit.

“That’s the funniest damn thing I’ve ever heard!” Leroy chortled at Belle’s story about leading a revolt against the strict headmistress at her all girls’ Catholic high school.

Belle’s side hurt from laughing, her cheeks sore from her smiles. It felt good to be out on a Saturday evening for once, to leave Gold in the shadows and enjoy her life.

“Oh I’ve got a million of them,” Belle said as Ruby pushed a glass of water toward her with a pointed look. “That’s nothing to the protest we staged over skirt lengths.”

Leroy raised an eyebrow in question.

“One Monday morning the whole student body showed up in nothing but our knickers. They couldn’t expel all of us so Mother Superior eventually agreed to raise the skirt length to four inches above the knee.”

Leroy howled with laughter, slapping his hand against the counter again and rattling Belle’s water glass. Ruby shoved it at her again and Belle took it with a roll of her eyes, making a show of drinking it.

“I’m just looking out for you,” Ruby said as she darted back out in to the melee. Belle’s round of shots had loosened up the joint and Granny’s was starting to rival its Thursday Night Happy Hour crowd. She noticed the nuns had seen themselves out. 

“I don’t get you, Belle,” Leroy said eventually, after taking a long sip of his beer. “You’ve been here what, three years now? How has no man in this town snapped you up yet?”

“Oh, the men of this town and me don’t get along,” Belle said.

Leroy shook his head.

“You’re the whole package, sister. Pretty, smart, fun as hell. Well, if I wasn’t spoken for I’d ask you out myself.”

Belle snorted. “Thanks, Leroy,” she said, stroking a hand against the man’s fuzzy cheek. He blushed slightly, looking away. “But I’ve found the single men of this town to be somewhat disappointing.”

Leroy narrowed his eyes at her. “Who are you talking about?”

“No one in particular,” Belle said with a shrug.

Leroy was still scrutinizing her.

“Was it Whale?” he asked. “What did that jerk do to you? He can’t keep his hands off anyone.”

Belle snorted into her water glass. “No,” she said, although Whale had hit on her a time or two, he’d never done anything too forward. “Not Whale.”

Leroy leaned forward, bracing his elbows against the counter.

“Sheriff Humbert?” he asked. “He always seemed like a decent guy, even if he has hauled me in a time or two.”

“Not Graham, Leroy,” Belle said. “And this isn’t a guessing game. I’m not talking about anyone in particular.”

Leroy let out a sigh, returning to his drink. “Yeah,” he groused. “Come to think of it I’ve never heard tell of you dating anyone. The man you spend the most time with is probably Mr. Gold!”

He let out a laugh and Belle nearly choked on her water, coughing and sputtering as she placed it back down on the counter.

Leroy eyed her suspiciously.

“It’s Gold?” he asked, loudly. “You dated Gold?”

Belle’s eyes widened as several people around them stopped to look at her.

“No!” she insisted. “I’ve never been on a date with Mr. Gold.”

“Then why did you react like that?” Leroy asked. “Everyone thought there was something going on between you two, what with the way you were always going at it in the streets.”

Belle shook her head. Ruby had warned her as much the morning after she first spent the night with Gold.

“Belle’s dating Mr. Gold?” Walter asked from over Leroy’s shoulder where he was clearly eavesdropping.

“Why?” cried out little Emma Nolan.

“Come to think of it, he did buy condoms the other day,” Tom Clark followed up. Belle dropped her head into her hands.

“I saw him leaving her apartment at _six_ in the morning last week,” Ashley Boyd called out from her booth. A round of oohs followed that bit of information and Ashley beamed at being able to spill her gossip.

“Fine!” Belle exclaimed, sitting back up. “You got me! I’m sleeping with Mr. Gold!”

She swung around, hopping off the barstool and striding in to the middle of the diner.

“Did everyone hear that, right?” She yelled at the assembled onlookers, spreading her arms wide and turning so she could look them all in their judgmental eyes. “I’m sleeping with Mr. Gold! We’re fucking! You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. Get back to your dinners now, no need to wonder. You’ve got the…”

Belle’s word vomit was cut off by Ruby’s hand grabbing her arm. In all the commotion, no one had noticed the door open, the gust of chilly autumn wind sweeping through the now silent diner.

Belle turned to see the man in question framed in the diner door, his face completely blank. He’d changed since she last saw him, swapping his black suit for a navy pinstripe with a dark blue shirt and burgundy tie. He had his black overcoat on, a red manicured hand currently gripping on to the woolen fabric over his arm. The hand belonged to a stylish older woman in a red wrap dress and what Belle expected was a real fur stole wrapped about her shoulders.

Belle swallowed, stepping back and plopping down on her stool.

Everyone was staring at her. Little Emma Nolan had knelt up on her seat to get a better look and it was a mark of how engrossed her mother was in the drama that she hadn’t yanked her back down to sit yet. For a moment, everything was painfully quiet.

The woman on Gold’s arm, Cora Mills presumably, turned to look at him with an arched eyebrow.

“Jasper?” she asked, her ruby red lips pulled back in a white-toothed smile. “Who is this woman?”

The name was jarring. Belle knew Gold’s first name, in theory. He’d written it down when he’d filled out his library card application. But she’d never called him by it. He’d never indicated that he wanted her to. She’d never heard anyone call him by his given name.

Hearing someone else use it was like a bucket of cold water poured over her head. He had a whole life, people who knew him better than she ever would. She was nothing to him. Just a little plaything, something to fuck and easily disposed of.

Gold was staring at her, an unfathomable expression on his face, and Belle felt about two feet small. Her stomach roiled, the tequila threatening to come back up, and she needed nothing more than to be out of this room and as far from Gold as possible.

“Fuck,” she hissed under her breath before grabbing her purse off the counter and rushing out the back of the diner, down the hallway past the bathrooms and into the alley beyond.

* * *

The night air was bitterly cold after the warm, cramped confines of the diner and it helped to clear Belle’s head of the tequila immediately. Her breath condensed in little puffs of air in front of her as she paced halfway down the alleyway, raking her hands through her hair. The last time she’d been drunk had been the first time she’d gone home with Gold. She certainly didn’t make a habit of it. Obviously she couldn’t be trusted not to make a fool of herself where alcohol was concerned.

Belle had left her jacket on her stool and she rubbed her hands against her arms, wishing her sweater were thicker. She certainly wasn’t going back for her jacket now. She let out a ragged sob, letting her head fall back to stare up at the night sky above the alley. It was thick with twinkling stars, not a cloud in sight. It would have been a beautiful night if she were in any mood to enjoy that sort of thing.

“Well that was quite the performance,” Gold’s voice drawled from behind her. “I think you taught the children in there a new word or two. Always dedicated to increasing literacy in Storybrooke.”

Belle’s eyes slipped shut for a moment, girding her loins before she spun around, looking up at him miserably as the diner door swung shut behind him with an echoing bang.

“Leave me alone,” she bit out, her teeth chattering slightly.

Gold held something out in his left hand and she looked down to see it was her jacket.

“You forgot this,” he said softly.

She strode toward him, snatching the jacket out of his hands and pulling it on, zipping it up to her neck in an effort to feel less exposed, as if he hadn’t had his head between her thighs mere hours ago. She jammed her hands into her jacket pockets, relishing the warmth around her cold fingers.

“Thanks,” she said half-heartedly.

She turned to head toward the mouth of the alley, to walk home to her apartment and likely never come out again. Gold could have the goddamn library after all. After three years of trying to drive her out of town, he’d finally done it.

But then her heeled bootie caught on a crack in the pavement and she stumbled slightly, banging her shoulder against the brick wall of the alley.

“Belle,” Gold’s voice came again, closer behind her than she’d realized. The bastard was actually following her. “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself. Let me get rid of Cora, I’ll drive you home.”

Belle’s nose wrinkled up as if she’d just smelled something foul. Come to think of it, they were standing next to a dumpster.

“Oh because suddenly you care about me?” she asked sarcastically.

Gold leveled her with a look.

“You know I do,” he managed to get through clenched teeth, as though the admission cost him something dear. Perhaps he did care. Perhaps some part of him truly did like her, want her for more than just sex. But if that part of him existed, he kept it on a tight rein. He certainly didn’t let it keep him from treating her like dirt.

“Bullshit,” Belle spat.

Gold sighed, shaking his head as though she were a troublesome toddler. “Don’t be like this, Belle.”

“Like what?” she demanded.

He motioned at her, seemingly at a loss for the proper word.

“Unreasonable,” he said finally.

Belle huffed a sarcastic laugh.

“Oh, I’m unreasonable,” she said.

“I’d say drunkenly stumbling home in the cold rather than letting a friend take care of you is unreasonable, yes.”

“HA!” Belle exclaimed and Gold startled a bit at the loud noise ringing in the alleyway. “Friend? We’re friends now? You don’t have friends.”

Gold’s eyes flashed with annoyance but his face otherwise betrayed nothing. He grounded his cane in front of him, his hands sitting lightly atop it as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I just want to take you home.”

Take her home. His little whore, his plaything. Of course he did. Belle felt fire in her blood, a combination of anger and tequila and her mortification over what had transpired in the diner. She could feel everything building to a self-destructive implosion likely to level to the whole block. She’d deal with it if it would at least knock Gold on his ass.

“Oh really?” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She took a step toward Gold and he instinctively stepped back as if sensing her instability. She put a sway in her hips as she stalked toward him until there was barely an inch of space between them. “You want to take me home?”

“Yes,” he said, his breath fanning across her face. He was warm, the spicy scent of his cologne tickling her nose. In spite of everything she wanted to bury her nose against his neck, breathe that scent in and be surrounded by it. She tamped down on that impulse, crushing it.

She let her hands wander up over Gold’s chest, stroking up to his shoulders over the thick wool of his overcoat. He was infuriatingly still, watching her through narrowed, wary eyes.

“Do you want to take me home and fuck me?” she asked, pressing herself against him. She could feel rather than hear his breath hitch, his mouth parting slightly as he looked down at her with dark eyes. Belle gripped on to his shoulders, pressing up on her tiptoes until she could whisper in his ear. “Do you want to take me to the very edge and then make me beg for it? Do you want me to suck your cock before you fuck me so hard I can still feel it the next day? So every step I take reminds me of the feel of you inside me?”

Gold swallowed, a bob of his Adam’s apple and Belle let her tongue dart out, tracing the shell of his ear.

“Do you want to make me scream?”

“Yes,” he grunted out in response. Belle smiled to herself before pushing back.

“Too bad,” she hissed.

Gold’s eyes narrowed, his feet shifting as he leaned heavily on his cane. Good. She hoped he was uncomfortable. She hoped he was half hard with no relief in sight.

“Insatiable, aren’t you,” she quoted back his words to her. “Next time your cock is craving my sweet, little cunt, don’t come crying to me.”

Gold sighed, shaking his head.

“You think I deserve that,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.

“You know you deserve that,” she spat back. “Why would I ever go home with you, after the things you said to me!”

“We’ve said worse to each other, surely,” he said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t understand why she was upset.

“Yes, but we weren’t…” she cut off before she could say the word _together_. They weren’t together. If they were he wouldn’t be on a date with someone else even now.

“We weren’t what,” he prompted, his eyes suddenly sharp, piercing, in a way that made Belle uncomfortable.

“Nothing,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “Forget it.”

“I will not,” he growled out, his hand shooting out to latch on to her arm, keeping her from walking away.

“Get your hands off me!” she exclaimed, shoving away from him. Gold dropped her arm at once but continued to follow her.

“We weren’t what?” he said again. Belle stopped at the edge of the parking lot out back, seeing Gold’s gleaming Cadillac only a few steps away. It would be easy to let him take her home. It would be easy to get into that Cadillac and drive to her apartment. It would be easy to fuck him, forget about this lousy day and pretend that everything was as it had been for the past few weeks. It would be easy, and she didn’t want it.

She wanted to have this conversation she realized. It was well overdue.

“We weren’t sleeping together,” she said, turning back to him.

“Well, we no longer are,” he shot back. “You said as much earlier this evening.”

“God you’re such an asshole!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

“Yes,” Gold said simply. “And you’ve always known that. I fail to see how it makes a difference now.”

Belle gawked at him, her mouth falling open. Was he really this obtuse? Had she ever met anyone less self-aware?

“You went on a date with someone else!” she fairly screamed. “You paraded that fact in front of me like you were trying to make me jealous or something. You made me feel cheap and dirty, like I was a mouth and a cunt and little else. What on earth did I ever do to you to deserve any of that?”

“If you’re jealous it’s your own fault,” he snarled back. “I asked you out, sincerely I might add. You said no.”

“Of course I said no!” she yelled. “Why would I ever say yes to a man who has mentally and emotionally tortured me for three fucking years? You made every day of my life a nightmare. I never knew what was going to be thrown at me next, if I’d have a job the next week or be able to pay my student loans. You almost gave me a fucking ulcer, you monster!”

Gold looked taken aback, staring at Belle as if he’d never seen her before.

“So that’s how you feel?” he said finally.

Belle didn’t answer, too busy holding back the tears that wanted to fall. God she was an idiot for ever hopping in to bed with Gold, for ever thinking there was even the slightest possibility that a real, beating heart lived beneath the layers of Armani and snark. He was as soulless as she’d always thought him to be. Her optimism had just left her with a broken heart on top of the stomach ulcer.

Gold nodded, taking her silence for agreement.

“Well then,” he said, his hand tightening around the handle of his cane. “I didn’t realize your disdain for me went quite so deep. I can only wonder why you so willingly went to bed with a _monster_. Repeatedly, I might add. ”

“You think a few orgasms makes up for the years of stress you put me through?”

“I didn’t know you were stressed!” he countered, his hand fluttering at his side. “You always seemed to give as good as you got. I thought we had a rapport.”

Belle felt struck dumb.

“You _what?”_ she exclaimed.

“I told you I was bad at flirting.”

Belle’s mouth dropped open.

“You were serious? I thought you were being pithy. You actually thought threatening my job and my livelihood was a good way to express romantic interest?”

“I knew you’d never look at me otherwise. It was better to have your hatred than your indifference.”

“Oh shut up!” Belle exclaimed, slapping a hand against his chest. “No more of the woe is me who can ever love a beast nonsense! You’re alone because you go out of your way to ostracize everyone, not because you’re unattractive. I can guarantee your ex-wife didn’t leave you because you were bad in bed.”

That brought him up short, Gold’s eyes snapping up from her hand on his chest to meet her eyes.

“What do you know about my ex-wife?” he snarled.

Belle let her hand drop back to her side, suddenly uncertain. He’d never told her about his past. He’d never told her much of anything.

“That…that she left you, took your kid,” she stuttered out.

Gold nodded, his nostrils flaring.

“Yes, she left me,” he said. “For someone younger, better looking, and who, up until that point, I had considered a friend. So you’ll excuse me if I’m not exactly the trusting type anymore.”

Belle felt her stomach drop, the wind taken out of her sails.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered with a shake of her head. “I didn’t know.”

Gold turned, pacing away from her before turning back.

“Of course you didn’t know,” he said angrily. “Because I didn’t tell you. Because I don’t tell anyone the details of my personal life and yet there you are announcing it to half the town!”

Belle huffed, blowing the hair out of her face as she crossed her arms against her chest.

“Yes, I’m well aware you didn’t want anyone to know about us,” she said. “That’s why you slink away at first light like you’re hiding something.”

“Oh don’t do that,” he spat. “Don’t play the victim, it’s beneath you. We both know that was for your benefit. So no one would know the sweet little librarian was fucking the monster. You’ve been very clear on the status of our relationship from day one.”

“And what status is that?” she asked, truly wondering what his answer would be. They’d obviously been seeing the same events through vastly different eyes for years now.

“That you’re using me,” he growled out. “That I’m good enough to fuck but not good enough to be seen with in public.”

“What?” Belle exclaimed. “That’s what you think?”

“Why else would you spend time with me? I’m a monster. It’s not as though you _like_ me.”

“Yes I fucking do!” she screamed, shocking herself with her own honesty. “God help me, it’s against my better judgment and you’re the most infuriating person I’ve ever met, but yes. I liked you, in spite of everything. Because you’re smart and you’re funny when you’re not being cruel and you can even be quite charming when you feel like it. And I feel like a fucking moron for it because every time I think there might be a decent person lurking underneath all the crap you go and prove me wrong!”

“Oh that’s me alright,” he said with a sarcastic twist of his lips. “Just an unfeeling, horrible bastard. Fling all the shit at me because it won’t stick, right? I’m barely human.”

“That’s what you want people to think,” she countered. “But it’s not true, I’ve seen it. The truth is you’re scared. You don’t let anyone close to you. Not me, I’m certain not Cora either. You go through life keeping everyone at a distance because your ex-wife was a bitch. Well that’s not my fault! Don’t take it out on me.”

Gold’s dark eyes flashed dangerously. 

“Oh don’t make the mistake of thinking you know me just because we’ve fucked.”

“Know you?” Belle scoffed. “I don’t know anything about you! I didn’t even know you had a kid for one. Where’ve you been hiding that? I’ve been all over your house and there’s not a single picture of him so are you just the world’s worst dad or what?”

Gold’s face had gone deathly pale, his grip on his cane tremulous.

“Don’t talk about my son,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.

“Why not?” Belle countered. “We’d have to eventually. If you really wanted to go out with me, if you wanted this to progress into anything, you’d have to tell me about a fucking kid! What, was he just going to show up for Christmas one year and surprise the hell out of me?”

“No,” Gold said with a shake of his head.

“He knows better than to spend Christmas with you, I suppose,” Belle said with a snort, working herself up. “Do you even know where he lives?”

“He’s dead,” Gold hissed out, his face turning to something feral, monstrous with grief. Belle reeled back, the breath leaving her body in an audible gasp.

“He’s dead,” Gold repeated, his voice cracking on the words.

Belle’s heart dropped to her feet. “Oh my God!” she breathed, clamping her hands against her mouth, trying to stop any more hateful nonsense from spewing out. If Gold was a monster, what was she? She was just as horrible, she said things that were just as cruel. “I’m so sorry.”

Gold nodded, looking away from her, as though his grief was something unseemly that she shouldn’t see.

“Car accident when he was just eighteen,” he rasped out. “My ex-wife hates me so much she had me banned from his funeral. I never even got a chance to say goodbye.”

“Jasper,” Belle said, her voice a whisper in the cold night air. She reached a hand for him unthinkingly, letting it hover in the air between them.

He looked up at her, his shoulders cowed and his eyes wounded, like a dog that had been kicked one to many times and no longer trusted a kind hand.

“Maybe there was something, some part of me that was decent, once upon a time” he said, his hand fluttering against his chest. “But if so, I’m afraid it died with him.”

Belle hadn’t the slightest idea of what to say, what she could possibly do to make up for what had been said. He’d once told her that she didn’t cause him pain, she alleviated it. It was one of those rare moments where she’d seen a glimmer of vulnerability, the hope that kept her digging for more. She wasn’t sure how to alleviate his pain now. Tonight she’d added to it.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice trembling.

Gold shook his head sadly.

“Don’t apologize to me,” he said. “Not ever. You’ve nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Gold’s voice was flat, monotone like she’d never heard it. She almost missed the yelling. It was like the fight had gone out of him, leaving a hollow shell she didn’t recognize.

They stood there in the darkness, the silence threatening to swallow Belle into oblivion. She wanted to run. She wanted to hug him. She wanted to erase the past ten minutes and start over.

“I’m sorry,” Gold said. “I know I’ve never apologized for all the things I’ve done wrong over the past three years. I didn’t realize how badly my actions affected you. After the first few weeks, that certainly wasn’t my intention.”

Belle nodded. She could believe that. Apparently three years of hell for her had been foreplay for him. It was like they were speaking two entirely different languages half the time.

“As for tonight,” he continued. “I don’t have an excuse. This whole thing with Cora was little more than a business meeting. I only said the things I said because I was hurt. You rejected me and I did something stupid because I can’t think straight when it comes to you. Never have, since the moment we met.”

“I haven’t been the most level headed person when it comes to you either,” she admitted. “Clearly.”

Gold huffed a small laugh and the sound eased the tension in Belle’s chest ever so slightly.

They stood there for another long moment, the muffled sounds of the crowd in Granny’s diner wafting out into the alley. Cora was still in there, but she felt no jealousy any longer. She had nothing to be jealous of.

“You were right to turn me down,” he said finally. “Because if we made an actual go of any of this I’d just ruin it. I ruin everything I touch Belle. So go, escape before I can hurt you too.”

Belle bit her lip, the ache in her chest sharpening at his words. She had a name for that ache, one she’d been too stubborn to see until tonight.

“I think it’s too late for that,” she said, hating how small her voice sounded.

Gold blinked rapidly, looking across the darkened parking lot. The streetlight nearby reflected in his eyes and Belle could see unshed tears there. Funny. If you’d asked her before tonight, she’d have never been able to picture Gold crying.

“Belle,” he said, his voice breaking over her name. “I am sorry.”

A tear finally escaped, slipping down Belle’s cheek, feeling icy against her skin. She swiped it away.

She nodded, unable to find her voice for once. She was afraid that if she spoke she would break down, burst in to tears. Gold didn’t need that from her.

She had wanted to know if there was a man behind the mask, behind the sarcasm and indifference. Now she had her answer and that man was so much more broken than she’d ever imagined. And she’d revealed her own failings in the process. She was a hateful, jealous person. A person she didn’t recognize and never wanted to be again.

“Well,” Gold said. “I think I’ve had about all the honesty I can stand for one night.”

Belle nodded again, wondering if she’d ever find her voice.

“Can I still offer you a ride?” he asked half heartedly. Belle shook her head.

“I think I could actually use the walk,” she managed to croak out.

Gold looked at her for a long moment before he nodded. “Very well. Goodnight, Miss French.”

She was back to being Miss French then. How were they supposed to go back? How were they supposed to act like the past seven weeks had never happened? How was she supposed to stay in this town knowing that she loved Mr. Gold and it brought out the absolute worst in her?

She gasped at her own realization, clamping her mouth closed. She loved him. She loved him and he probably loved her too. Did it mean anything at this point? 

Gold was looking at her expectantly and she shook her head, burying the emotion deep inside where it could burn and hurt for years to come, but not now.

“Goodnight, Mr. Gold.”

He gave her one last little nod, turning on his heel to head to his car. The Cadillac purred to life and he pulled out of the parking lot on to the side street, headed back to his big, empty house. Belle watched his taillights disappear around the corner, feeling the tears slip down her cheeks, free to fall now that she was alone.

It was only when she was back safely ensconced in her own apartment that she realized Gold had left Cora at Granny’s.


	3. Chapter 3

Jasper Gold had fallen in love a grand total of once in his miserable life and the outcome had cured him of ever wanting to again.

He’d been young and idealistic when he’d met Milah Cassidy. He’d still thought the world was a good place and that loving someone meant you would be together forever. Despite his own parents’ rather dismal failure of a marriage, he’d been optimistic upon his union with Milah. She was beautiful and clever with dark hair and blue eyes, a combination he’d always had a weakness for. Most importantly, she’d loved him too, though in hindsight Gold couldn’t recall why he’d been so certain of that fact. Perhaps it was because he’d loved her so much he’d assumed her feelings for him must have been of the same caliber.

Fifteen years later he’d been proven spectacularly wrong.

Their mutual college friend Killian Jones had stopped in Storybrooke to stay with them that summer as he sailed his way down the east coast, from Nova Scotia to Florida. A one week visit stretched to two weeks and then a whole month. He’d been such an idiot, thrilled to see his old friend and suspecting nothing while the man slept under his roof. At the end of August, Killian had set sail to the next port and he’d taken his wife and child with him.

It was only afterward, when the divorce became a reality, when he’d begged Milah to come home, when he’d offered her anything she wanted even an open marriage if it just brought her and Neal back to Maine, that he realized how much she hated him. She resented their small town life. She resented being financially dependent on him. She felt trapped by lack of opportunity and a child that shackled her to a man she’d fallen out of love with a decade ago. He found out that she and Killian had had an on and off relationship for longer than their marriage, that she’d slept with him the night before their wedding and had prayed that Neal would turn out to be Killian’s rather than his. Only Neal’s dark brown eyes, the exact color and shape as his own, assured him that wasn’t the case.

He’d been a pathetic fool, cheated on and laughed at and robbed of his only child. He’d hardened his heart and promised it would never happen again.

And now it had, and he was no less a fool the second time.

He’d been smitten with Belle from the moment he met her and he had railed and fought against it, to prevent history repeating itself, and had only managed to create a new hell for himself.

He was in love with Belle French and he’d lost her. This time there was no dashing sailor to blame. The only person at fault was himself.

The rest of Gold’s weekend had passed quietly after Saturday evening. He’d cloistered himself in his home for all of Sunday, reveling in his own heartache and self-loathing. He couldn’t imagine where he and Belle could go from here. They seemed to have reached an impasse in the alleyway outside Granny’s Diner. He had treated her abominably out of hurt and fear and she had retaliated with thoughtless cruelty.

He couldn’t blame her for the gibe about Neal or Milah. She had no idea of his history because he kept everything so close to his chest, never letting anyone in for fear of being hurt again. If he’d shared some of himself, any of himself, with her they probably wouldn’t be in this position. She would know exactly where he was coming from.

It was probably better this way though, no matter the pain in his heart. He had been honest when he told Belle that he ruined everything he touched. Every person he’d ever loved had been destroyed by him. He didn’t need to add Belle to that number. It didn’t stop him fantasizing about how he could fix things though, and by the time Monday morning rolled around he had a growing list of grand gestures he would never execute scrawled down on a spare bit of notebook paper.

He was looking it over, penciling in a note on where to rent a horse drawn carriage in coastal Maine, when the door to the shop burst open, a gust of cold wind and a few scattered leaves blowing in along with his first customer of the day.

Gold quickly stowed his list away beneath the counter, standing up straight and crossing his hands atop it. He let out a sigh at the sight of Regina, a red scarf wrapped about her neck and her black trench coat billowing in the breeze. He didn’t realize he’d been holding out hope it would be Belle until the crushing disappointment in his chest threatened to overcome him.

“Madam Mayor,” he said with a grimace. “To what do I owe the displeasure?”

Regina let the door swing shut behind her with a bang, sending the windowpanes rattling. The sound made Gold wince in spite of himself.

“My mother,” she said succinctly as she crossed the polished floorboards of the shop to stand across the counter from him.

Gold sighed again. After the blowup with Belle, he had completely forgotten about Cora. By the time he remembered, he was down to his shirtsleeves and a drink and a half in to his night of stewing over his own regrets. He certainly wasn’t going back for her at that point.

“And?” he prompted. He wasn’t going to make this easy on Regina by admitting fault.

“Mother says that you, and this is a direct quote, ‘stranded her at a seedy establishment to chase after a drunken teenaged prostitute’.”

Gold stared at Regina flatly.

“I left her in Granny’s Diner whilst I spoke to a very distressed Belle French outside,” he summarized.

Regina cocked her head to the side with a grin.

“So by seedy establishment my mother meant a casual family restaurant and by teenage prostitute she meant a thirty year old librarian,” Regina said with a nod. “That sounds about right.”

“Well, if that’s all, you know where the door is,” Gold said, motioning toward the door to the shop. He was eager to get back to his list. Regina rolled her eyes, leaning her hip against the glass topped display case to her right.

“That’s not the only reason I came by,” she said, tapping her fingernails on the case. “I also came to tell you that while you may have won this first skirmish, the war is far from over.”

She was staring down in to the display case, feigning interest in an antique saber, as Gold tried and failed to think of what skirmish they were possibly embroiled in at the moment.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Belle,” Regina said, stretching out the single syllable as if it should answer everything. She looked up at him with a sharp edged smile. “You finally got your wish and drove her out of town.”

Gold’s stomach dropped, a cold prickling sensation erupting over his skin.

“What?” he demanded, suddenly interested in the conversation.

“She handed in her two weeks notice this morning,” Regina said with a toss of her hair. “She said she’s returning to Australia for a family emergency, but if Granny’s gossip is anything to go by, I’m sure the reason is you.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Gold said through clenched teeth. Belle was leaving, driven away by him once and for all.

_It’s for the best,_ a snide voice in his head rang out. _You’re better off alone._

His heart didn’t get the same message, clenching uncomfortably at the thought of Belle so far away.

“I suppose terrorizing the poor girl wasn’t working so you decided to seduce her and then break her heart instead,” Regina continued, giving him an appraising look. “You know if I didn’t find you absolutely disgusting, I’d almost be impressed.”

“That’s not what happened,” he growled out.

Regina’s eyebrows shot up.

“And here the Granny’s rumor mill is usually so reliable,” she snarked. “Well, no matter. The result is the same. I’m out one librarian and community hours will only last us so long. But don’t worry, I’ll have a new girl in before you can blink twice. That library isn’t going anywhere.”

“_Fuck_ the library,” Gold nearly shouted and Regina’s mouth fell open in a little oval of surprise.

“She really got under your skin, didn’t she?” she said. “Maybe you should treat your playthings a little better Gold, not everyone is as resilient as I am.”

“Get out,” he spat.

Regina just gave him another sharp edged smile, turning to sashay out the shop.

“Be kinder to my next librarian, please!” she called over her shoulder before letting the shop door slam behind her.

Gold grabbed his list of grand gestures from beneath the counter, reading it over once more. Belle was leaving and there was nothing on this list that would stop her from doing so. Even still, there was one thing he could do to help, one thing that might make her life ever so slightly easier.

He pulled his cellphone from his jacket pocket. He had some calls to make.

* * *

It seemed to Belle that the contents of her entire life should take up slightly more boxes. She’d lived in Storybrooke for three years but, other than the massive shelf of books in the corner, she hadn’t managed to amass much in the way of possessions.

It was better that way. She’d been a bit of a nomad since leaving home at 18, so it was second nature to keep things simple. But two suitcases full of clothes and high heels plus a box filled with her treasures and keepsakes, like memories of her mother and photos of her friends, and her small apartment was all but scrubbed of her presence.

The place had come furnished with a sofa, dining table, bed and desk. She’d hung up some thrift store curtains and decorated with a few throw pillows, but otherwise she hadn’t left much of a mark. The curtains and pillows could stay, a gift to the next librarian. Hopefully they’d have better luck in town than she did. Better luck with…

Belle sighed, running a hand over her face. She wasn’t running away, she told herself. She’d repeated the mantra ever since she’d impulsively visited Regina the Monday after the display at Granny’s and handed in her two weeks notice. It was high time to move on. She’d done all she could for the library in Storybrooke and the soles of her feet were itching with the need to move on, to see more of the world than this tiny little corner of it.

Of course, she’d probably have stayed at least another year if it weren’t for Jasper Gold. But the end result was the same. She never planned to stay in Storybrooke permanently, so what did it matter if she left now or a year from now? And it’s not as though Storybrooke would disappear from the map if she left. She could visit. Perhaps, one day, years from now, she could come back. Maybe time spent away from each other would be enough to mend the rift between she and Gold. Maybe they really were perfect for each other and had just managed to bungle the timing. 

There was a little pang in her chest, the feeling she got anytime her thoughts turned to Gold, and she shook it off, casting around for something to take her mind off of him.

She eyed the shelf filled to bursting with books, feeling weary at just the prospect of packing them all up. They’d have to go in to storage for now to be shipped to her once she had a permanent location.

She grabbed a cardboard box, dragging it over to sit beside the shelf as she perused the titles, sorted by genre and then author. She pulled out her favorite book, the well-worn copy of Her Handsome Hero that her mother had given to her when she was just eight years old. She opened the book, tracing the inscription on the inside cover with her fingertips and missing her mother so much it was a physical ache.

_For my darling Belle. Do the brave thing and bravery will follow. _

Belle’s eyes slipped closed, blocking out her mother’s words. What would she think of her daughter now? Would she think it was brave to pack up and run away rather than face the mess she’d made? What would her mother think of Gold?

Belle snorted a laugh, despite her sour mood. Her mother would never have put up with Gold’s treatment of her daughter. She would have given him a serious talking to. But her mother was compassionate to a fault. She would have seen the pain lurking behind Gold’s dark eyes far more easily than Belle had. Colette French had a way of soothing monsters that Belle couldn’t hope to replicate.

She hadn’t seen Gold since that night at the diner, studiously avoiding anywhere she might run into him. She’d been mortified by her behavior, heartsick at the realization that she loved him, and plagued by an overwhelming guilt over the things she’d said about his son. It was a storm of emotions that made the very prospect of seeing him again set her stomach roiling like she might be sick.

But now she was two days away from leaving, the hastily purchased plane ticket home sitting on her dining table and mocking her with its deadline. It had cost all of her savings and a bit more on her credit card so there was no going back now. She'd already phoned her father and let him know she was coming and he'd been absolutely thrilled. Still, she needed to see Gold, to assure him there was no ill will, to try to smooth over the jagged edges they’d exposed to each other that night at Granny’s. She loved him. She should probably tell him, even if it was far too late to mean anything.

It would be the brave thing to do.

Belle was jogged from her thoughts by the mail flap on her front door opening with a metallic scrape. A few envelopes were pushed through the slot, landing on the hardwood floor with a slap.

She carried Her Handsome Hero over to her box of mementos, laying it on top before going to collect her mail. She’d need to leave a forwarding address for the apartment and made a mental note as she rifled through the bills, fliers and junk mail. There was a letter from the company that handled her student loans and Belle ripped the envelope open halfheartedly, already dreading what new hell they had enclosed for her. She’d have to find a new job quickly. She was certain they wouldn’t accept a deferment for unemployment when she’d quit a perfectly good job on her own.

She unfolded the piece of paper within revealing an invoice and read over it once, then again just to be sure, her mouth dropping open.

There’d obviously been some sort of mistake with her account.

Puzzled, Belle walked over to the living room, picking her phone up from the coffee table and punching in the phone number at the bottom of the invoice. She was met by an automated voicemail menu and she clicked through the various numbers until she was finally greeted by a real, live person.

“Thank you for calling Sallie Mae, how can I help you?” came a bored female voice from the other end of the line.

“Yeah, look, I hate to make this phone call but I think there’s been some sort of error on my loan payments,” she said.

The woman on the other end of the line collected her information, the gentle tapping of a computer keyboard filling Belle’s ear as she called up her account.

“Well,” the woman said, “it appears the account has been closed as it’s paid in full.”

Belle shook her head. “No, you see, that’s the problem. At last count I still had over $21,000 on there at a 4.5% interest rate.”

She’d calculated another three years of payments before her loans were paid off. Another three years of scrimping and saving with a large portion of her paycheck going straight to Sallie Mae.

“No ma’am,” the woman replied. “The account was paid off as of November 11th. A lump sum payment.”

Belle swallowed uncomfortably. November 11th had been the Monday after the blow up with Gold. He wouldn’t have…would he?

“Can you possibly tell me who made the payment?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, it was a Jasper Gold.”

Belle let out a ragged gasp, thanking the loan officer before hanging up. She looked down at the invoice in her hand, crumpling it in her grip.

What the hell did he think he was doing?

* * *

There were many reasons to dislike winter in New England, the oppressive darkness and icy cold winds first and foremost, but Gold had never much minded them. The cold air was hell on his bad ankle and icy sidewalks made walking with his cane a dangerous business, but the bare trees and oppressive grey clouds threatening snow tended to reflect his mood better than the cloudless summer skies and late evening sun. But as he trudged home in the pitch darkness at just after 5:00 PM, he was starting to hate the season.

It was Friday, less than a week until Thanksgiving, and one day until Belle French was due to move away forever.

He hadn’t spoken to her directly, of course. They’d avoided each other since their last conversation. He expected she never wanted to see him again, and he was determined to give her space. She had every reason to hate him and there was nothing he could say or do to ever make up for his behavior. The best thing he could do for Belle at this point was let her go. She was always destined for more than Storybrooke had to offer and for once he wasn’t selfish enough to hold her back.

No, the only reason he was privy to her travel plans was because Leroy Miner had mentioned it earlier that day when he dropped off his rent check, paid on the 22nd of every month because Leroy was consistently three weeks late and Gold had adjusted the due date accordingly until the man was paying on time without realizing.

“Belle leaves tomorrow,” Leroy had grunted at him as he thrust an envelope into Gold’s waiting hand.

“I wish her safe travels,” was Gold’s only reply.

Leroy had stared at him for a long moment as if working up the courage to say something.

“If I was a braver man, I’d call you an idiot,” he said. “But I’m not, so let’s leave it at that.”

Then he’d hightailed it out of the shop before Gold could do anything but glare at him.

He would love to see Belle one last time, to tell her again how sorry he was. But he’d done all he could at this point as far as apologies went. He’d inflicted enough pain on Belle in the three years of their acquaintance and there was no sense in burdening her further with his presence. For once in his life, he was doing the right thing.

But doing the right thing was cold comfort on a night like tonight, cold and dark after a long week bereft of his favorite person in the world. Gold stared at the contents of his refrigerator miserably, trying and failing to find the energy to cook himself dinner. Instead he slammed the refrigerator door shut, turning toward his study instead. He had whisky there, and a fireplace to ward off the chill. Liquor and fire was no substitute for the warmth of Belle’s arms, but it would have to do. From now on it would have to do.

He’d just thrown a log on the fire, getting a nice blaze going when a frantic pounding came from his front door. It was followed by the doorbell ringing a half dozen times and Gold stood from the hearth wondering who on earth would be bothering him on a Friday evening. Whoever it was, they were either very brave or very stupid and likely a combination of both.

He stalked down the hallway toward the foyer, seeing a shadow backlit by the porch light through the multi-colored glass panes of his front door.

The doorbell rang again and he ground his teeth together.

“I’m coming!” he shouted before wrenching the door open and immediately feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

Belle French was on his porch, one hand raised as if to knock again, her other hand clutched around a white piece of paper. They stared at each other for several long seconds, Belle’s blue eyes wide and her lips slightly parted.

“Belle,” he said finally, breaking the spell as her raised hand dropped to her side. “What are you doing here?”

She was trembling slightly in the cold, swaddled in a long camel coat, tied at the waist, that served only to make her look more petite. Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose braid, and her usual high heels were missing, replaced with a pair of sherpa lined all weather boots. She looked as though she'd stormed over on impulse and only just realized where she was when he opened the door. It certainly didn't seem as though she'd come by with a plan. 

Wordlessly, Belle thrust the paper in her hand toward him. He took it on instinct, looking down at what appeared to be some sort of invoice.

“You paid off my loans,” she spat out.

“Ah,” Gold said with a nod, pocketing the invoice. He knew it had been a gamble, but he’d wanted to do something nice for Belle, something that might make up for the hardship he’d put her through. It had been invasive, possibly, but he’d only wanted to set things right and it seemed a more sustainable gesture than the pony.

“So you admit it,” she continued. “It was you.”

Gold took a step back into his foyer, holding the door open wider.

“Would you like to come in?” he asked.

Belle looked up at him warily for a moment before giving a stiff nod.

“It’s bloody freezing out here,” she said by way of explanation, stepping in to the entrance hall. She rubbed her hands together, looking awkward and Gold took pity on her.

“I was about to pour myself a drink,” he said, nodding down the hall to his study. “Would you care to join me?”

Belle raised an eyebrow. “In my experience, the two of us mixed with alcohol is a potent combination.”

“The outcomes weren’t all bad, were they?” he asked smoothly, belying the nervous fluttering in his belly. He hadn’t expected to see Belle again before she left, but here she was turning up on his doorstep the night before she flew halfway around the world. It was a gift he hadn’t hoped for. Even if she’d come to yell at him, he’d cherish these last moments with her.

Belle snorted. “Fine,” she agreed, motioning for him to lead the way.

His study had warmed up considerably and he loosened his tie a bit as he stepped inside. He grabbed two glasses and a bottle of whisky from the drinks cart against the wall, carrying them over to the low table before the fire and pouring a measure in each. It was only then he realized Belle was still frozen in the doorway, staring at the leather sofa behind him.

It struck him then. This was the scene of the crime, the place where she’d first kissed him, months ago now, after Regina’s fundraiser. He’d stripped her naked for the first time steps away from where he now stood. He’d have to burn the bloody house down to escape the memories of her in his home.

He held a glass out to Belle and she swallowed nervously before stepping toward him. Her fingertips brushed against his as he handed her the glass and he didn’t think he imagined the shiver that went through her at the contact.

“Why?” Belle asked, staring down in to her drink. “Why did you do it?”

Gold took a sip of his drink, sitting down on the sofa and leaning his cane against the arm.

“To give you freedom,” he said with a shrug. “You mentioned paying your student loans was a source of stress. I was simply eliminating that stress.”

Belle shook her head, twisting her glass between her palms.

“Yes, but why?”

Gold set his glass down on the coffee table, looking up at Belle as she followed suit.

“It seemed a large amount of money to you and it was nothing to me.”

Belle’s eyes widened, her lips parting angrily.

“So you think, what, you can buy me off because you have money? You think one grand gesture will have me crawling back to you?”

“No!” he exclaimed, pushing up from the sofa. “I just wanted to relieve your life of a little stress. Lord knows I’ve been the cause of enough of it. Regina said you’d quit your post as librarian so I figured money might be tight.”

Belle narrowed her eyes at him.

“I don’t expect anything in return, Belle,” he promised. “Consider it back payment for three years of putting up with me. Consider it an apology.”

“An apology,” she repeated.

“I’m well overdue on giving one,” he said. “A proper one, more than just words. I’m sorry, Belle. I can’t excuse my actions and my words over the past three years. I behaved like an arse and you have every right to hate me.”

Belle seemed to deflate, a stricken look on her face as she shook her head.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Don’t you?” he asked. She’d been fairly explicit about her feelings toward him in the alley outside Granny’s. He was the monster who had tortured her since her arrival in town. He was the villain of her story.

Belle shook her head again.

“It would probably be easier if I did,” she said. “I thought I did, once upon a time. But it was never hatred I felt for you and especially not now.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said softly. “It was hard to think of you out there somewhere hating me.”

Belle bit her lip, looking up at him with those luminous blue eyes. Her arms were crossed in front of her, her hands clutching at the camel colored coat that swamped her. She hadn’t taken it off, despite the warmth of the study. He wasn’t sure if it was because she intended to leave soon or if it served as a kind of armor, an extra layer to protect her from him.

“So you knew I quit the library,” she said. “You knew I was leaving town.”

“Yes,” he agreed with a nod.

Belle shook her head. “You didn’t say anything. You were just going to let me go without saying goodbye?”

“I thought it’s what you wanted,” he said. “A clean break from the monster.”

Belle’s eyes slipped closed, a pained look crossing her face. “You’re not a monster,” she said, opening her eyes. “I didn’t mean all the things I said at Granny’s. I was angry and hurt.”

“You were right,” he countered. “I wish I could go back and do things differently, but I can’t. So all I can do now is try to make amends. Step one seemed to be leaving you the hell alone.”

Belle’s head cocked to the side as she stepped toward him, her arms dropping to her sides.

“What would you do differently?” she asked, latching on to his words. “If you could go back I mean.”

Gold sighed, twisting his hands together. He’d thought about it often enough over the past few weeks, how he should have behaved, if he hadn’t been such an emotionally stunted moron.

“I would have gone to the library that first day and introduced myself,” he began. Belle raised an eyebrow.

“You did that,” she said.

“Yes,” he agreed. “But I followed it up with telling you the library would be closed within two weeks if I had anything to say about it, so not to get too comfortable. I’d omit that part going forward.”

Belle snorted. “Just because I proved you wrong and hindsight is 20/20.”

Gold shot her a flat look and Belle held up her hands. “Sorry,” she said. “Please continue.”

“Well, after I introduced myself I would have made polite small talk for as long as I could and then I’d have left you to it,” he said.

“That’s it?” she asked, her face incredulous. “You’d have just ignored me?”

“I’m not finished yet,” he said impatiently. “I would have come back the next day, and the day after that, and as often as I could without you thinking I was stalking you.”

Belle let out a snort and he smiled at her. “Eventually, after learning more about you and your likes and dislikes, I’d have asked you to tea, because I know you prefer it to coffee. If you accepted and it went well, I’d have proceeded to dinner, Mario’s because you love the cannelloni and definitely not because you need more energy for sex."

He winked and Belle shook her head with a grin. 

"And then I’d ask you to a movie," he continued. "Something fantastical because if there’s not a sword fight or a dragon you think it’s not worth watching in the cinema. And then I’d take you on a weekend away, somewhere warm with a beach that would remind you of home. And after a year or so I'd ask you to move in with me because I couldn't bear to sleep without you by my side. And eventually I'd make an utter fool of myself trying to get down on one knee to ask you a very important question. I would tell you every day that you are the most beautiful and enchanting person I have ever known, and Belle I would never, ever be stupid enough to let you go.”

She was staring up at him, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. His heart was beating frantically in his chest, rebelling at the honesty he’d just laid at her feet. He was used to being rejected. He was used to being shunned. It’s why he’d behaved the way he had for so long. He expected her to hate him so he made sure she would so he could be master of his own destiny. He was truly his own worst enemy.

Belle still hadn’t said anything, just staring up at him. Her tongue came out to moisten her parted lips and he wished he could kiss her. But Belle had given no indication he would ever be welcome to kiss her again and he certainly wasn’t going to try without her hearty consent.

“Oh,” she said, finally, nodding a bit. Gold could feel his heart stutter to a stop in his chest, hanging on her every word to see if it was worth it to go on beating or just have him drop dead on the floor of his study until the fire in the hearth burned out and the neighbors next door reported a suspicious smell coming from his house. “That would have been nice.”

“Yes,” he agreed with a sigh. “It would have been.”

They would never have that chance. He would never take her on a proper date and she would never wear his ring or his last name. It was a pretty little bubble of a dream, fragile and imaginary. Now she was leaving and everything he could say at this point was too little, too late.

“I would have said yes,” she said, blinking rapidly. “To tea or dinner or a movie. I would have said yes to all of it.”

Gold gave a wry twist of his lips. “Hindsight is 20/20.”

Belle laughed, a wet little bubble as she turned away to swipe at the tears gathering in her eyes.

“It’d be nice to get through a conversation with you without crying for once,” she said as she turned back to him, her eyes bright.

“Well,” he said. “Considering this will probably be our last conversation, you won’t have to worry about that for much longer.”

“I don’t want that,” she said, her voice hoarse with emotion. “I don’t want that at all.”

“Neither do I.”

Belle stared up at him for a long moment as if coming to a decision and then she stepped toward him, her arms outstretched. Gold instinctively took a step back.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I was going to hug you,” Belle said, a blush rising in her cheeks.

Gold blinked. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged him. It had probably been Neal, the last time he’d seen him the summer before his senior year of high school. He’d dropped him off at the airport to return to Milah and Killian for the school year and was already counting the days before he’d see him at Christmas. He never saw his boy again.

He should have held on to him, insisted he finish school in Maine. Maybe then…

There was no use dwelling on the might have beens in his life. He’d driven himself crazy with them for years, turning him into a bitter, broken shell of the man he’d once been. He’d known how to love once. He’d known how to show affection to people without expecting a transaction in the process. Belle made him want to be that man again.

He stepped toward her, tentatively pulling her into his arms and Belle wrapped her own around him, melting in to him. It was strange, holding her with no ulterior motive, without trying to kiss her or push for more. Belle’s head leaned against his chest and he buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, the scent of her.

“I’ll miss you,” he whispered into her hair. “I’ll miss you every day.”

Belle’s arms tightened around his waist, the only warning before she pulled away from him. He missed her immediately. It felt so damn good to be hugged by someone.

“I’m going to Australia,” she said and Gold nodded. He knew that already, of course.

Belle bit her lip, looking up at him with a strange expression. “I’ll be back in two weeks.”

His eyebrows rose.

“I was under the impression you were going indefinitely.”

“Well I’m not coming back just for you,” she accused, crossing her arms against her chest. “I’m not the kind of woman who up and changes her living arrangements based on a few nice words. I like this town. I have friends here.”

“I would never imply such a thing.”

“It’s Thanksgiving,” she said as if that explained everything.

“And it’s a popular holiday in Australia these days,” he quipped.

Belle rolled her eyes. “No of course not. But the schools are closed for the week and it’s the best time for me to take a vacation. I haven’t seen my dad in two years.”

“Family is important,” he agreed.

“Yeah,” Belle said. “He’s the only family I’ve got and he’s not getting any younger and I know he doesn’t take care of himself without Mum there so I need to check in on him. I need to be a good daughter.”

“So two weeks,” Gold repeated.

“Yeah,” she said. “You didn’t drive me away at your worst, you think I’ll leave now when you’re starting to behave yourself?”

He huffed out a laugh, his heart feeling lighter than it had since the morning he'd awoken with Belle in his bed for the first time. She was coming back, coming home. 

"Two weeks," he said again. "I can handle that." 

Belle nodded, a small smile playing about her lips. 

"Well I guess I should go," she said, motioning over her shoulder with her thumb. "I've got some more packing to do. And unpacking, I suppose. God, I wish I'd come to this decision before I boxed up all my books."

Gold escorted her down the hall back to the front door, unable to keep the smile from his face. When they reached the door, she turned to face him, his stupid grin mirrored on her face. 

“May I call you while you're gone?” he asked tentatively. It had been agony not having Belle to talk to over the past two weeks. He couldn't imagine going another two. “I can’t pretend to be technologically inclined, but my phone does have an application called FaceTime.”

Belle laughed, a charming thing that showcased her dimples and set her eyes sparkling. She was so breathtakingly beautiful he still couldn’t believe she gave him the time of day.

“Yeah,” she agreed with a nod. “You can FaceTime me. Just be aware of the time change, yeah? I’d hate for you to call when I’m already tucked up in bed.”

She bit her lip in a way that went straight to his cock and he grounded his cane in front of him, crossing his hands atop it.

“We couldn’t have that,” he said, his voice dropping in cadence.

“Yeah,” Belle agreed. “I mean, you know how little I wear to bed. What if you got an eyeful?”

Gold narrowed his eyes at her.

“Are you flirting with me, Miss French?”

“Yes,” Belle said with a smile. “And I didn’t have to threaten anyone’s job to do it. Take notes, maybe.”

Gold gave a self deprecating shrug of his shoulders. "I look forward to learning at the feet of the master." 

"If you're going to be on your knees there's much more interesting things to do than flirt," she said with a wink. "See, that was a freebie. You can use that one." 

He shook his head and Belle gave another of those enchanting smiles. 

"I really do have to go," she said, and to her credit she looked disappointed. A moment later she'd placed one hand on his shoulder, going up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on the corner of his mouth. It was a whisper of a kiss, feather soft and over before he could enjoy it, but he relished it all the same. 

"Goodnight, Jasper," she whispered against his ear. 

"Goodnight, Belle," he returned, softly. 

She reached out to squeeze his hand, still clutching the head of his cane and then she was gone, disappearing into the darkness beyond his porch light. 

Gold shut the door, turning and leaning against it with a sigh. 

Belle wasn't moving away. She'd flirted with him and told him he could call her. He let his eyes slip shut and felt something like hope bloom in his chest for the first time in years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be one more fic in this series. Keep an eye out for Unconditional Surrender, coming to AO3 whenever I have a chance to write it.


End file.
